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Favourite Books of 2012?
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Liz, Moderator
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Dec 28, 2012 06:32AM
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We Need to Talk About Kevin, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, Girl with a Pearl Earring, Cutting for Stone, Affinity, The Night Circus, The Great Gatsby & Shantaram. Oh, I forgot to include Cloud Atlas
My favorites this year were again in no particular order
They look like great reads and have given me some ideas for 2013. Some of my faves this year were;Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and SweetThe RedbreastHiggyThe Peculiar Memories Of Thomas PenmanTinker, Tailor, Soldier, SpyWhy Be Happy When You Could Be Normal?
My faves for the year were:
The Bell Jar and Written on the Body were both re-reads but firm favourites.
On the lighter side, I'm also continuing to enjoy the Stephanie Plum novels, reading:
and the J R Ward Black Dagger Brotherhood series, reading:
To be mean for a moment, total dud imo
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[bookco..."I've been meaning to read [book:The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay|3985] for a while, sounds like I'll have to move it closer to the top of my to read pile...
Its really good Liz, everyone I know who's read it has loved it. It'll be interesting to see what a non-comic reader thinks of it, as I'm not sure how much I enjoyed the story because of knowing some of the history it was set in.
Mod
It'll be interesting to see what a non-comic reader thinks of it, as I'm not sure how much I enjoyed the story because of knowing ..."
Yes, I'm a non-comic reader in general, although I do like to read beyond my usual genres....
Mod
Wow Ian, you like Cormac McCarthy westerns
My top ten for 2012 were -
,
,
,
,
,
,
,
,
and
. I had a lot of fun this past year, nicely varied in my selections.
my favorite reads in 2012 include 2666 and The Savage Detectivesand The Museum of Innocence andShameand Soldados de Salamina
quite a few four star books for me, a lot of bryant and may stories, and patrick gale.standing out would be
and
.
Louise wrote: "quite a few four star books for me, a lot of bryant and may stories, and patrick gale.standing out would be
and [bookcover:Memoirs of an Imaginary Friend|13538..."I too loved the Snow Child, not read Memoirs of an Imaginary Friend, but since I love your other choices, I think I'll have a look!
I think mine has to be Before I Go To Sleep by SJ Watson
It was a good reading year for me, and I have quite a few that I really enjoyed :
Without question Cloud Atlas was the best.
Dusterstar wrote: "my favorite reads in 2012 include 2666 and The Savage Detectivesand The Museum of Innocence andShameand Soldados de Salamina"I read
years ago and it has stayed with me, it was a great read.
Bill wrote: "My top ten for 2012 were - , , , , [..."Bill - such a lot of variety in your list. I have [bookcover:The Spy Who Came In from the Cold|19494] on my bookshelf, staring at me ..... might have to give it a go.
Ian wrote: "I've had 9 5 star reads in 2012:Wow Ian, so many 5* reads. I LOVED Half of a Yellow Sun. I dont think I will ever forget it.
Ian, not being nearly as grumpy as usual with the 9 five star books!!I thought I was the easiest 'judge' (sorry, watched a lot if reality, talent shows lately) I mean 'reviewer'.
Or maybe it's fantastically good taste?
my top five books that i have read for 2012 are:1. The Decision by Penny Vincenzi
2. Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince
3. Bridget Jones's Diary
4. The Shadow of the Wind
5. The Star of Kazan
Looking back over what I've read this year there have been some great books so it's hard to wittle it down to 'favourites', but if I had to narrow it down to I'd say these are the ones I'll be recommending to other people...
Mod
I had 8 5 star reads of 75 books this year! The majority of others are 4 or 3 stars - I just enjoy reading so can find something to admire in most of what I read but it's got to be special to get a 5!
Nikks wrote: "Bill wrote: "My top ten for 2012 were - , , , [bookcover:The Spy Who Came In From The Col..."Le Carre's early books are worth a read, Nikks. Happy New Year!
I had 4 five star books this year and my top read of the year was
Things have to be really, really special for me to give them a 5*. I think I've given about 20 5's out of almost 400 books read - I must be a tough judge ! lol Jennifer - I got The Book Thief for Christmas - looking forward to it.
I've had 14 out of 84 5 star books this year. A lot by Hobb.
I had six rated 5 stars out of 80 books read.
I looked at my stats after reading this thread...141 books this year
32 four star reviews, and only one five star review.
it was for
.funny I didnt even remember that very fondly.
Nikks, there are more Hobb, another Sullivan
, can't remember off top of my head.
The Magician King The Dragon Reborn The Lions of al-Rassan The Hero of Ages. Others mentioned above, another Sullivan, one I can't recall and more Hobb - did all her 11 books from the Elderling series, 2 to go.Getting fed up of my Fire correcting my spelling when it isn't wrong.
15 out of the 60 books I read were 5 stars, must have been feeling very generous this year.Now finding that my to-buy list is ever increasing as I see what other people have been reading.
Your turn to get them listed! My other one is Legend by David Gemmell.
Helen wrote: "Your turn to get them listed! My other one is Legend by David Gemmell."Already listed mine (so neh :p)
The only others to add would be
Mod
I only had one true 5 Star novel (We Need to Talk About Kevin). The other 8 favourites were solid 4.5's, except Goodreads doesn't do halves, so they ended up being 4's.
I'm very sparing with my 5's...... ok, I'm stingy! (plus I only read 47 books this year, so statistically speaking, I should have a smaller 'hit' rate)..... Ok, I'm still stingy!!!
I read lots of great books in 2012, but these were particularly good....Bring Up the Bodies by Hilary Mantel
Black Swan Green by David Mitchell
A Long Long Way by Sebastian Barry
The Invisible Bridge by Julie Orringer
The Orchardist by Amanda Coplin
Vanity Fair by William Makepeace Thackeray
The House of Silk: A Sherlock Holmes Novel by Anthony Horowitz
Plus lots more!!
Liz wrote: "Ok, my favourites this year were (in no particular order):We Need to Talk About Kevin, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, Girl with a Pearl Earring, Cutting for Stone, Affinity, The Night Circus, T..."
This is a great set of books Liz.
I am also very stingy with the 5's, i only had one last year (i wish Goodreads did halves!).My favourites last year were:
Susan wrote: "I read lots of great books in 2012, but these were particularly good....Bring Up the Bodies by Hilary Mantel
Black Swan Green by David Mitchell
A Long Long Way by Sebastian Barry
The Invisible Br..."
I second Bring Up the Bodies, Black Swan Green and A Long, Long Way - all brilliant! I should probably make a point of reading the others on your list Susan, clearly we have similar taste!
I hope you find time to read them Em....I'm pretty sure you wouldn't be disappointed .
Helen wrote: "I didn't like the China Mieville book I read, The Scar"He did take me a while to get into as its all very strange - but the quality of the writing kept drawing me back. He's a bit Neil Gaimany I think.
One of the best books I read in 2012 was the one I kicked off the year with: Vanity Fair by William Makepeace Thackeray. I also enjoyed Orlando by Virginia Woolf.
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